Talk about built-in irony: the class of tricky words known as “contronyms” can mean the opposite of what you think they mean.
I Sanction This
J.E. Fishman on The New York Times
On The Nervous Breakdown this week, J.E. Fishman considers the book review practices of The New York Times: “My view is very much eastern, very much old school, where a book review from the Times was the only sure sign that an author had arrived. But maybe it’s time to rethink that, and this rethinking has been long overdue.”
●
●
A DeLillo Retrospective
In its recently released third issue, The Point – a terrific Chicago-based journal of ideas – takes up the vexed question of Don DeLillo‘s literary significance.
●
●
●
●
Get Ready for Downton Abbey’s Third Season
The third season of Downton Abbey has an official trailer, but to really gear up for the upcoming episodes, you might want to pad your reading list.
●
●
Across Space and Time
“These sorts of connections are at the centre of nearly all time machine fiction. These novels usually draw attention to telling commonalities across historical eras, or between the past and the present. That gives an engaging puzzle quality to the books—we read seeking out the dropped clues that will shed light on the purpose of the parallel.” On fiction in which the plot takes place over multiple timelines.
●
●
Having trouble falling asleep at night?
Madhu Kaza, a “writer, artist and educator,” has a possible solution for you. She’ll come into your home 15 minutes before bedtime and sit in a chair beside your bed and read to you from your favorite books until you fall asleep. Then she’ll let herself out and lock the door behind her. The free service is called Here Is Where We Meet, the title of a 2005 novel by John Berger. The only requirement is that you fill out a short questionnaire and make an appointment — and get ready to say goodbye to the sheep and the warm milk.
●
●